IDENTIFYING ENGINEERING ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE CASE
Early in a case, it is necessary to determine what engineering issues, if any, will be
important in the case. It is often necessary to make this determination before any experts
have been hired. For the business owner or insurance company, this need may arise
immediately following a failure, when the cause of the failure is still unknown. In this case,
it is important to identify how to preserve the evidence and how to perform a failure analysis
(what type of experts should be hired?).
In a contract dispute, such as a construction defects claim, there may be no litigation, but
the claimant still needs representation by someone who understands the technical issues
as well as the points of law that the arbitrator or mediator may raise.
At some point, a decision may be made to file suit. The lawyer has a duty to investigate
the merits of the claim before filing suit. This will involve a review of the facts and a
determination of the key engineering issues to be litigated. Once the suit is filed, there
is still a need to identify the issues that will likely be litigated. What types of experts are
needed? What was the standard of care owed by the design professionals?
As a practicing engineer and attorney, J.L. Grover has experience in a wide array of
construction defect, product liability and personal injury cases and has the technical
and legal background to identify and help you address these issues.
